Defence Secretary: I have 'not thought about legacy' as Defence Command Paper is published
Outgoing Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said he had not thought about his legacy as the publication of a paper that sets out the Armed Forces' future was published.
Mr Wallace, who has been Defence Secretary since 2019, said on Saturday he will stand down as an MP at the next general election, telling the Sunday Times his departure is due to the strain the job has put on family life.
The long-awaited defence command paper has been published on Tuesday.
The Government has outlined plans to invest £2.5bn in the UK Armed Forces to enable it to 'get there first' in refreshed plans to improve the UK military's warfighting readiness.
The paper outlines the investment in stockpiles and a Global Response Force, to keep the UK "on track to act as a global heavyweight both now and in the future", according to the Ministry of Defence (MOD).
A headline for personnel is that £400m is to be spent modernising accommodation that UK "service families deserve".
Despite its publication being one of his last major actions as Defence Secretary, Mr Wallace said he did not think of it as his legacy – but as fulfilling a debt he owed to servicemen and servicewomen.
"I don't think of legacies, I just think it's the natural step," he said, speaking ahead of the paper's publication.
"We started talking about this at the beginning of the year; there was a commitment to the integration of review refresh, which obviously was going to trigger this.
"I was determined that the lessons from Ukraine were brought forward and so that people now know what we need to do and I think that's important."
Mr Wallace said he arrived in the department with the view it was not "threat-led" enough.
"I'd always arrived in the department with the view that, having been security minister, the department wasn't threat-led enough. It wasn't responding to threat quick enough. And I think we've laid that.
"But this is not about legacy, I owe it to the men and women of the Armed Forces to import the lessons of Ukraine to make sure where we're investing we're doing so on the right track."
There has been speculation the paper will recommend cuts to the Army's size, with some reports saying it will shrink from 75,000 personnel to 73,000.
Mr Wallace said the discussion about personnel numbers has been a "distraction from the simple realities".
He said: "We have carried a force for many, many decades, both under the Labour government and the Conservative government, where we focused on numbers and hollowed out behind.
“That's not what I've ever done as Defence Secretary. I've increased the funding – a significant rise in real-term funding to defence.
"I've made sure that we were invested in reversing some of that hollowing out, to make sure that what we offer to the Government and to the British people is what we can deliver on the tin.
"There is no point having an Armed Forces just for the parade ground."
Mr Wallace said he was prepared to speak out as a backbencher if Mr Sunak did not stick to his promise to increase military spending to 2.5% of GDP in the run-up to the election.
Asked if he would hold the Prime Minister's "feet to the fire" once he steps down in September, Mr Wallace said: "What I will say is that it is important that everyone sticks to the pledges that they have made."
Mr Wallace played a key role in the UK's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
His Wyre and Preston North constituency in Lancashire will disappear at the next general election because of boundary changes and he said he will not seek a new seat.
He is believed to have told Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on 16 June of his plans to stand down from Cabinet.
On Monday, Mr Sunak praised Mr Wallace's "distinguished" career.
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